He arrived in Florence at twenty-one, an outsider from a small city, carrying nothing but a letter asking the head of the government to be kind to him. Leonardo da Vinci was already a legend. Michelangelo had just unveiled the David. There didn't seem to be room for a third genius in the room.
Raphael made room. In four years, he absorbed everything Florence had to teach, Leonardo's shadow, Michelangelo's muscle, a full century of tradition, and turned it into something that belonged entirely to him. Then Rome called, and in twelve unbelievable years he redefined what a papal commission, a Madonna, and a portrait could be, all while quietly out-manoeuvring a rival who spied on him, sabotaged him by proxy, and still got painted into his most famous fresco as a tribute.
He died on his own birthday, at thirty-seven, with his last unfinished masterpiece propped up beside his body. Rome had never mourned anyone like this before.
This is the story of the most likeable genius the Renaissance ever produced, and the four Florentine years nobody remembers when they say his name.
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Florence: The City That Changed the World is a series about the city that invented the Renaissance, financed Europe, and left a legacy still present in everything you see, think, and use every day.
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